


Awake

by lindsey_grissom



Series: Scenes From A Life Together [1]
Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: F/M, canon AU, it could be how it happened, its how I like to think their relationship developes anyway, possibly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 15:39:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13907118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lindsey_grissom/pseuds/lindsey_grissom
Summary: First in a collection of non-chronological moments between Mrs Hughes and Mr Carson throughout their lives since meeting.Post-wedding: The morning after the night before for.





	Awake

It’s the sunlight that wakes him, a great burst of it streaming across his face.

 

He turns on his back to avoid it, hiding his eyes beneath his arm. The morning air feels cold against his chest but he makes no move to tug the sheets up any higher.

 

“I’d no idea you weren’t a morning person, Mr Carson.”

 

That voice, somewhere over by the window, brings a smile to his face, memories rushing in where thoughts of returning to sleep had been settling.

 

“Yes you did.” His voice is rough after so few hours of rest. “And I should have guessed you’d be a morning person Mrs Carson.”

 

He lowers his arm then, to take her in, her silhouette backlit by the early sunlight. He fancies that he knows her curves now, at least better than any other man, having traced them with fingers and lips last night. Her robe is tied tight at the waist but the collar has slipped low on her bare shoulder.

 

He knows the taste of her skin there now; a knowledge he cherishes.

 

“You know we’ve the day off.” Just last night they’d relished in the knowledge, unconcerned by the late hour when they would have all day to lay and gather back their strength.

 

“It’s habit, Mr Carson.” He wonders if she might be blushing, a rosy tint charming across her lowered cheeks.

 

“Perhaps we ought to create other habits then, Mrs Carson.” He lifts the covers beside him, pats the mattress. “Come back to bed, Elsie.”

 

He closes his eyes again to the hushed slide of the curtain rings, opens them when he feels her weight dip the bed.

 

His arm left flung out across her pillows curls around her when she rests her head above his elbow, tucks her in closer.

 

The soft brush of her hair against his cheek tickles and he buries his nose in its scent; vanilla and rose and beneath it all, his wife.

 

He can see her now in the darker light and with a shift he lowers his mouth to her tempting shoulder, kisses her pale skin.

 

“It feels so decadent, lazing here while everyone else works.” She lifts her shoulder to press more firmly against his smile. “I feel like we ought to be doing something.”

 

It’s a matter of a moment to clasp her more tightly in his arm and turn her so that she lays half atop him, her blue eyes blinking widely at him.

 

“As you say, Mrs Carson.” His lips capture hers before she can speak, hands finding places that just yesterday were untouched and are already so familiar to him. “As you say.”

 

He is awake now, can no more resist the call of her body than he can her voice.

 

They have hours yet before they will be needed again and after all, he can sleep when he’s dead.


End file.
